Friday, March 14, 2008

Well that's a shocker. No it's really not. Of course we would get the holders and then runners up one right after the other. It's not a bad draw for us though. Only problem is now we play them I think three times in about eight days because we play them in the Premiership between the two legs. The rest of the draw looked like this:

Arsenal vs Liverpool

Man United vs Roma (7-1 repeat? I'll be hoping it's for Roma though)

Schalke vs Barcelona

Chelsea vs Fenerbache

So you'd probably say ours is the most evenly matched tie. I can't think of any way Schalke or Fenerbache gets through but maybe Roma could on their day. They also made the draw for the Semi-Finals and they pit the winner of us vs the Scousers against the winner of Chelsea and Fenerbache. So that means we'll have Chelsea. I was hoping for a couple of games that would be more fun to watch but at least Arsenal will try to make them fun while Liverpool and Chelsea will just play like a pack of cunts.

So I'm going to break this down position by position and see who SHOULD come out on top, but remember I am slightly biased.

Goalkeepers: Pepe Reina vs Manuel Almunia. Clear edge I think goes to Reina here. While Almunia has certainly not been bad this year, I'd always take Reina over him.

Advantage: Liverpool

Defenders: Carragher, Arbeloa, Agger, Riise, Hyppia, Finnan, Auerelio, whichever cunts he "rotates" into this match vs Sagna, Gallas, Toure, and Clichy, or Senderos, whichever the boss prefers. I think we definitely have the advantage here. All our defenders have more speed than theirs, Senderos is really playing well and Sagna and Clichy have been great all year.

Advantage: Arsenal

Midfielders: Mascherano, Xabi Alonso, Gerrard, Pennant, Kewell, Benayoun vs Cesc, Flamini, Rosicky if healthy, Hleb, and Diaby. This is a tough one to call here. There's no doubting the quality of Mascherano, Alonso, and Gerrard, just like we know Flamini, Cesc, and Hleb are great. If we can control the midfield with our passing and hold a little possession I'd give us the call. But for now I have to say:

Advantage: Neither

Forwards: Crouch, Kuyt, Torres, Babel, and Voronin vs Adebayor, Bendtner, RvP, and Theo. This season I'd give Adebayor the win over anyone in the world just about the way he is playing, but Torres is a great forward all though he looks like a little nancy. The decider will be RvP, if he can get into some form than he will be the one who can win us this tie. Cmon Robin!

Advantage: Arsenal

So by final count of 2 to 1, Arsenal wins. Let's hope so. Up the Goooooners!